Inflammation is a defensive mechanism which is inherent in the living body for an effective removal of pathogens and injured tissues. In the inflammation, various transmitters are released from cells and the symptoms such as swelling, pain and fever are accompanied therewith. A transient inflammation is necessary for the protection of living body while, on the other hand, uncontrolled inflammation causes injury of tissues and becomes a fundamental cause for various diseases. Inflammatory disease is a general term for the diseases induced by a transmitter by the inflammation reaction and examples thereof are asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary fibrosis, allergic disease, autoimmune disease, rhinitis, gastroenteritis, hepatitis, pancreatitis, nephritis, cystitis, enteritis, inflammatory pain, arterial sclerosis, dermatitis, myositis, vasculitis, inflammatory eye disease and multiple sclerosis. It has been said that inflammation is induced and adjusted by a complicated interaction between lipid mediators such as prostaglandin and leukotriene and inflammatory cytokine and chemokine released from inflammatory cells (such as mast cell, basophile, endothelial cell, macrophage and neutrophile). It has been known that, in the initial step of the inflammation, increase in blood vessel permeability, activation of endothelial cells and infiltration of inflammatory cells happen responding to local inflammation-inducing signal and that inflammatory cytokines [such as interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-8, interferon (IFN)-γ and tumor necrotic factor (TNF)-α], chemokine and lipid mediators play a central role therein. On the other hand, degenerative intervertebral disk is induced by participation of various factors such as aging, mechanical stress, smoking and genetic factor. Intervertebral disk comprises the gel-like nucleus pulposus abundant in water and the annulus fibrosus surrounding the same and age-related changes of the intervertebral disk start from second half of the teenage where water content and proteoglycan content in the nucleus pulposus decrease. As a result, the intervertebral disk results in degeneration such as a decrease in elasticity and a decrease in volume and the degenerated tissues have poor natural recovering property whereby it is the current status that no effective therapeutic method is available. When degenerative intervertebral disk happens, it stimulates the nerves around the intervertebral disk or it applies the burden to ligament, joint and muscle whereupon it may cause the lumbago. As to the factors for the inhibition of synthesis of proteoglycan in nucleus pulposus inducing the degenerative intervertebral disk, there are listed a decrease in oxygen supply to intervertebral disk by smoking in addition to an excessive mechanical stress. Examples of the disease induced by degenerative intervertebral disk are lumbar intervertebral disk disease and degenerative scoliosis. As to the symptom of those diseases, symptoms such as numbness of lower limbs and muscle weakness may happen in addition to pain and, when they worsen, daily life is disturbed. Because non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitor which are used mainly for the treatment of inflammatory diseases and degenerative intervertebral disk diseases have a side effect to stomach, intestine and cardiovascular system as well as an anti-inflammatory effect and an analgesic effect, there has been a brisk demand in clinical sites for novel drugs showing excellent effect with less side effect.
In view of the fact that a certain coumarin derivative has anti-inflammatory action and suppressive action for degenerative intervertebral disk, the present inventors have found that such a derivative is useful as a preventive or therapeutic agent for inflammatory disease and degenerative intervertebral disk disease. As to the coumarin derivative, compounds where 3-position of a coumarin skeleton is substituted with a sulfonylamino group are disclosed in Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2. However, those documents merely report that the compounds as such are synthesized and there is no description therein at all that they have a pharmacological action.